


Get Some Sleep, Idiot

by Chloe_Hallow_Eve



Series: Black Paladin Lance [23]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Black Paladin Lance (Voltron), Fluff, M/M, My version of Season 3, Post-Season/Series 02 (Voltron), Pre-Relationship, klance, part of a series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-13
Updated: 2017-08-13
Packaged: 2018-12-15 00:12:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11794389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chloe_Hallow_Eve/pseuds/Chloe_Hallow_Eve
Summary: Keith puts Lance to bed after catching him in one of his sleepless routines. It wasn't very hard, mind you.Alternatively Titled: I Might Have Feelings For Mullet But I'll Deny Them For Now





	Get Some Sleep, Idiot

Lance stared at the ceiling with tired, blurry eyes. He was exhausted. He hadn't slept properly in days. All he wanted to do was close his eyes, shut off his brain, and sleep. And yet, his brain supplied him with everything that could go wrong, everything that would go wrong, everything he’d do wrong. And so, after a few hours of futile tossing and turning, Lance rolled out of bed. He slid on his slippers and housecoat, blinking slowly as he stumbled out of his room. 

 

Lance stretched as he walked down the hallway. His muscles protested, but stayed sturdy. He hadn't run out of energy yet. Lance sighed, wondering if he’d start getting white patches in his hair like Shiro this way, peeking through Hunk’s door to confirm the big guy was alright. 

 

This was what he always did when he couldn't sleep (which was more often than Lance cared to admit). Check on the others. Check the systems. Train. Learn. It wasn't a very healthy cycle, but Lance did whatever it took to take his mind off of his nightmares. He forgot most of them a couple hours later, but the blind panic and terror would send a shockwave through his empty insides that resonated long after he woke. It made his fidgets and habits more prominent and his paranoia run laps around his stuttering lungs. He hated the feeling. But he lived with it. Even so, he'd make sure the others were alright, so he could go about his early day easier. 

 

As Lance expected (and hoped), Hunk was sprawled out on his stomach with a foot hanging off the side, mouth gaping, drooling and snoring. His blanket had bunched around his waist. Lance smiled, carefully padding his way over to his best friend and fixing the blanket. Hunk didn't so much as twitch. Lance went to Pidge’s room next. 

 

The mice joined him when he exited Hunk’s room. Lance didn’t know if they just roamed during the night, if they had some sixth sense about someone in the halls after lights out, or if they had been assigned to watch him, but Lance wasn’t complaining. They were small, fuzzy, and pleasant company. They didn’t ridicule him for being up at unreasonable times, or try to talk sense into him. They seemed content to scurry up his pant leg, settle into whatever perches they found, and make sure he was safe. Lance knew they more often than not told Allura what he did when up and about (unless he asked them specifically not to tell), but even if that was somewhat annoying it was also reassuring. If Lance got lost, or injured, or collapsed, the mice would have his back. 

 

Lance gave each mouse a small scratch to their heads or their chins as a greeting while he popped into Pidge’s room. The small paladin was curled around their laptop, glasses askew and blanket pulled tightly around their shoulders. Their grip was lax, so it was easy for Lance to slip the electronic out of their grasp and pluck their glasses off of their face. Pidge’s eyes squinted open momentarily when he did, but then they grumbled and turned over, pulling the cover higher and adjusting their pillow. Lance ran a hand through their hair briefly, murmuring a small goodnight to which was vaguely returned, then left them in peace. 

 

“Allura all tucked away safe and sound?” Lance whispered. 

 

Plachu, standing on his shoulder with a small paw gripping a section of his hair for balance, nodded. 

 

Lance absently reached a hand down to help Platt crawl into his housecoat pocket. “What about Coran? Find out where that enigma sleeps yet?”

 

Plachu shook his head. 

 

Lance snorted. “Well, can’t win them all.” He turned down the hall, stopped for a moment, backtracked to make sure he went the right way, then continued, nodding to himself. “One last check in, then to get some food. I don’t have enough energy to do much else today.”

 

Chuchule squeaked sadly at him from the top of Lance’s head, leaning forward a little to give Lance her big, disappointed eyes. Lance nudged her back to the centre of his scalp before she fell. 

 

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll try taking a nap later.”

 

She seemed satisfied with that, burrowing herself in Lance’s hair. Lance glanced at Chulatt as he stepped, being careful not to tilt his head too much, and caught the small blue mouse staring up at him with curious eyes from between the ears of one of his slippers. Lance stopped a moment to place his hand on the wall, lift that foot carefully, and offer Chulatt his hand. The mouse jumped into his palm quickly. Lance kept going, rubbing the knuckles of his other hand on Chulatt’s cheek. 

 

“What’s got you all doe eyed?” 

 

Chulatt glanced at Keith’s door, which they were approaching, then back to Lance, making an air heart then giving him the same questioning look. Lance was tempted to play dumb, blame it on his sleep deprived brain, and not address the topic again, but it wasn’t like the mice would go blabbering. They were physically incapable of it. So, Lance sighed, shrugging. 

 

“I dunno. Mullet’s been great, really supportive during this entire thing, which I really appreciate. Even if he does go off on his own sometimes. And he’s nice to cuddle, but the same way Hunk and Pidge are nice to cuddle.” Lance, carefully maneuvering around Chulatt, took hold of his sleeve and rubbed at the soft material. “But I  _ think _ I’m starting to develope feelings. We’re in the middle of a war, though, and we all have a lot on our plates. So, I haven’t thought that much about it. Y’know? I’m not sure if any of us have time to think of having a relationship right now.” 

 

Chulatt nodded. Plachu ran over to stand on his hand as well, practically shoving Chulatt out of the way, giving Lance a ‘come on’ look. Lance snorted, especially when Chulatt jumped onto Plachu’s head. 

 

“Alright, I’ll sit down and think about it seriously when we get Shiro back, how does that sound?”

 

He didn’t look satisfied, but settled down nevertheless. Lance placed both him and Chulatt on his shoulder, then peeked into Keith’s room. 

 

He had his back to Lance with his blanket at his feet. Lance sighed when he saw Keith was sleeping in his normal clothes. Again. Seriously, when did he wash the things? And who the hell could sleep in jeans? There were so many things wrong with this picture Lance didn’t know where to begin. 

 

He decided with the shoes. Those had to go. Right now. Lance took a few careful steps into the room. Keith shifted. Lance froze. The red paladin turned around, his arms under the pillow, and blinked blurrily at Lance. After he seemed to process what was happening, his brows furrowed, and he propped himself up on his elbows. 

 

“Lance? What are you doing?” His voice was low and gravelly from sleep, and okay, that shouldn’t have been as nice a sound as it was. 

 

“Uh,” Lance’s eyes darted to Keith’s shoes, “you’re sleeping with shoes on.”

 

Keith twisted around as if to confirm that, yes, he still had his shoes on. He looked back to Lance, brows lower, if that was possible, and scowling. “Yeah. And?”

 

“And that’s weird.”

 

“So? What does that-” Lance watched the exact moment of enlightenment hit Keith’s face in the way it softened in surprise, then scrunched in disbelief, “were you- Lance, were you going to strip me in my sleep because the way I do it was bugging you?”

 

Okay, the phrasing could have been a bit better, but it wasn’t completely inaccurate. “Well, yeah, pretty much.”

 

Keith flopped face first into his pillow, groaning. It seemed like for a moment he was just going to ignore Lance and fall back asleep right there, but then he turned his head. “What are you doing awake anyways?”

 

Lance wasn’t sure he could come up with an answer that didn’t sound as lame as ‘I’m scared of having nightmares’ or as depressing as ‘this is the alternative to lying awake thinking of all the ways I have failed and can still fail’ in his tired state, so he settled for a shrug. There must have been something in his face though, because Keith’s eyes lit with some small semblance of understanding. They were both silent for a moment. 

 

“I’ll get out of your mullet. Sorry for waking you up.” Lance tried to retreat quickly. 

 

“Lance, wait.” Keith tossed his legs out of his bed and stood slowly, grimacing when his back popped as he stretched. 

 

“No, it’s cool, you don’t have to-”

 

“Shut up. You’ve put me and the others to bed enough times to warrant the same treatment.” He grabbed Lance’s arm as he passed him, dragging him down the hall. “If you’re gonna  _ act  _ like a five year old who sneaks into their parents room but isn’t sure if they should wake them up, then I’m gonna  _ treat _ you like a five year old who needs to be babied.”

 

“Oh come on, I’m six and a half at the least.”

 

Keith shot him an unamused, tired glare. Lance decided, smartly, to keep his mouth shut for the rest of the walk, if only to not have Keith’s tired wrath come down upon him. Though Lance wasn’t sure if Keith was a raging tired. To be honest, Lance was pretty sure only Shiro would snap someone’s neck for waking them up. Hunk and Pidge grumbled, the latter with a lot more venom, and Lance himself was as whiny as one could get when forced into the world of the waking. From what he’d seen so far, Keith seemed like the kind to intimidate you but wouldn’t do anything about it. Scary, but non-threatening. Keeping that in mind, Lance widened his mental map of things he could get away with. 

 

Lance was pretty sure his sleep deprivation was getting to him. 

 

Keith lead him into the kitchen, forcing him to sit at the island counter with a firm word. He then ghosted around, yawning, grabbing various things. Lance realized he was making the substitute for hot chocolate Hunk had given the team a few days ago. Something warm and fuzzy bloomed in Lance’s stomach without his permission. 

 

“Woah hold up, Keith, you don’t have to-”

 

“Shut up.” Keith snapped, already pouring hot water in a mug to mix with the powder. 

 

Lance must have been really out of it if his face got hot when Keith handed him the steaming liquid. But he wasn’t, so his face was normal. So normal. Lance was grateful anyways when Keith turned around to make himself some hot chocolate so he couldn’t see the not-flush on Lance’s face. 

 

The hot chocolate had just cooled down enough for Lance to take his first sip when Keith slid into the seat across from him. Keith took a large gulp right away. Lance scrunched his nose at that, staring at Keith. Keith raised an eyebrow at him. 

 

“Isn’t the temperature burning your mouth?”

 

Keith shrugged. “A little. Don’t wanna wait.”

 

Lance frowned at that, but said nothing. The two of them drank in silence for a few moments. 

 

Keith’s eyes darted to each of the three mice he could see on Lance, wondering how often he was up late at night for him to feel comfortable with the critters crawling all over him. Lance finished most of his drink before placing the mice on the table, carefully taking Platt out of his pocket, and offering the remainder to them. They quickly got to work emptying the mug. Lance grinned, and it reached his bruised and sunken eyes. 

 

“Why are you up, Lance?”

 

Lance glanced up at the question, his smile fading. He looked to the side, shrugging again. Keith frowned, the answer just as unsatisfying as last time. 

 

“Is it the nightmare-induced insomnia you were telling us about during that group therapy thing?” Lance didn’t respond. Keith sighed. “You should probably get help for that.” There was a long stretch of silence. Keith chugged the rest of his hot chocolate, ignoring the burn. “Let’s get you to bed.”

 

Lance allowed the other to drag him to his room, leaving the mice in the kitchen with a quick goodbye. Keith stopped at the door, opened it, and motioned Lance to go in. 

 

Lance didn’t. He shifted from one foot to the other, nightmares and worries dancing behind his eyes, making him unable to even enter the room he was supposed to sleep in. Keith watched his face pale, watched his eyes gaze far off, watched something haunting enter his expression. Keith sighed, shoving Lance into the room and stepping in behind him. 

 

“Just this once, I’m going to stay in here until you go to sleep. Just to make sure you actually get some, okay?”

 

“Wait, what?”

 

Keith flopped down on Lance’s bed, rolling over so he was against the wall, then patted the spot in front of him. “Come on, I don’t have all night.”

 

Lance hesitated, staring, cheeks colouring, before slipping into the bed. In this darkness, he hoped Keith couldn’t see the flush that ran down his neck to the tips of his ears. It would be really hard to explain why he was blushing at a time like this. 

 

Keith hoped for the same thing, feeling his own face heating. 

 

“Are you even comfortable crammed against the wall?”

 

Keith grunted. “It doesn’t really matter. I won’t be here long.”

 

“Then shouldn’t you have been on the outside?”

 

“... Dammit.”

 

Lance snorted, pulling the covers up around him. “Too late. I’m not getting up, and you sure as hell are not gonna crawl over me.”

 

“Then scootch. If I’m trapped, then give me some room.”

 

Lance felt the need to point out that the bed really wasn’t large enough for the both of them to lay comfortably. Instead he did as instructed, giving Keith as much room as he could without hanging off of the bed. It seemed like just enough space for him to lay flat on his back. Lance offered him some of the blankets. Keith waved him away. They lay there for a few moments, unsure of what to do, and extremely aware of how awkward it was. 

 

“Well, goodnight Mullet.” Lance rolled over, putting his back to Keith. 

 

“.... Night idiot.” Keith rolled over to face the wall. 

 

Lance listened to Keith’s breathing, counting, and knew the second Keith fell asleep. He allowed himself to relax some after that, but didn’t dare move. Keith turned out to be a light sleeper, and he wasn’t going to risk waking him up again by trying to sneak out of bed. So he lie there, acutely aware of the other in his bed, trying to ignore the pounding of his heart. 

 

Eventually, Lance closed his eyes, allowing Keith’s healthy breaths to lull him into oblivion. 

 

In that oblivion, Lance has no control over his body if it decides to seek out the warmth beside him. 

**Author's Note:**

> Keith most definitely keeps his knife under his pillow. He is a light sleeper and prepared to stab someone on short notice. Good thing he decided to look before jumping this time. And really the only reason Keith didn't stay up with the same heart-pounding anxiety as Lance when they were in the same bed was because he was still half asleep. 
> 
> I tried really hard to make this not cheesy. I don't really know if I succeeded or not. 
> 
> Did season 3 really happen? Was that a thing? Because I feel like it was Jeremy Shada's Klance fanfiction that somehow got animated. 
> 
> Sorry this is late, I've had a lot on my plate. Updates are probably going to be sporadic from here on out, since I got a job and will be going to university and trying to maintain a social life, but no matter what those updates will be on a Sunday when they do happen. Thank you all for your patience, and support, and general being there-ness. It means the absolute world to me. Hopefully you'll continue to enjoy as I continue to write. 
> 
> Last thing before I go, I've been thinking of creating a folder of random Voltron fanfictions that I have had the ideas for for a long time and need to get out. They wouldn't update frequently, whenever I feel like it really, but I think it'd be fun. What do you guys think? Because I have some really cool ideas that I really want to introduce you guys to. 
> 
> That's it for now. Thank you again, and I will see you in the next update. See ya~!!!


End file.
